a la mode
by LadyBek
Summary: Jack works in an ice cream shop. Being who he is, he gets flirted with a lot. He finally meets someone who makes him want to flirt back. [AU] [Icicle is human, yes] [OC] [It's corny, in case you couldn't tell by the title]


/AN/  
I've thought about writing this for a while but here it finally is! If anyone really really wants I can continue this but I had planned it to be a oneshot. Anyway, I hope you like it! *hearts*

* * *

He heard them before he saw them. The typical type, he thought. Giggling girls, who heard more about him than the ice cream he served at his friend's shop. At first he'd thought it was just because he looked weird. His snow colored hair, and icicle blue eyes. He thought they gawked because he was different. After a while one girl actually got bold enough to tell him exactly why they were so interested. Jack Frost was, apparently, the sexiest thing they'd ever seen.

He straightens up and approaches the counter to glance at the giddy customers to ask, with a polite smile, "What can I get you?"

Two out of three giggled louder, and whispered not-meant-to-be-heard O.M.G's. The third, a dark haired, brown eyed, beauty in her own right, smirks slightly then actually looks through the glass and at the selections of frozen dairy.

Jack went with the script, "We have two new flavors. They're already getting popular. Raspberry and white chocolate."

"They both sound so tempting!" One of the two giggled.

"Especially the white chocolate..." The other one eyes him with specific interest and, not for the first time since he's started getting attention, he wonders how a statement like that could be considered flirty. "What do you think, Amethyst?"

"I've never liked raspberry." Miss brown eyes, apparently named Amethyst, replies. "I'm favoring some blueberry today."

Jack continues smiling, glad at least one of them isn't such a flirt. For the first time, he realizes that the other two have different hair colors. The one who said she prefered chocolate has a lighter shade of blonde hair while the other is more dirty blonde. An observation he's learnt to keep to himself lest more flirting ensue. Hair length never interested Jack. Though he thinks, if he did take to caring about it, he would prefer more shoulder length hair. These two, with their hair down to the smalls of their backs, only made that more obvious to him.

"You're, like, zero fun today." Light blonde comments, "I thought we told you to loosen up."

"I'm waiting for the right moment, Zara." Amethyst smiles in reply. Her hair is tied up in a stylish bun. To Jack she says, "These two are going to get something with a sexy name and a low calorie count. Don't ask me why. What was that one I saw? Some kind of cherry thing."

"Charming cherry." Jack confirmed. He asks the two blondes, "Is that right?" They nod at him, then shoot a glare at their still smiling friend. He's always been surprised at how mean girls are to their best friends. "Cups or cones?"

"Cups." Amethyst answers for them. "Can't have a wafer cone screwing up the calorie counter."

"Ami!" Zara nearly shrieks, "Stop!"

"Oh, please. You and Pen have been bragging about being on a diet for years. I'm just beating you to the punch." She winks at them.

Jack gets to work on the two cups, doing his best not to eavesdrop on the light arguing going on between the girls. Between scoops, he stares at Amethyst who doesn't so much as glance his way. He doesn't mind. He's just serving the customers that walked in through the front doors. Whether they pay him any more attention than necessary is up to them.

As he sets the cups on the counter, Amethyst speaks up, "I'll be paying for those as well as my own. Blueberry. Cone, please." She smiles politely then turns to her friends, "How about you two wait outside? You've both been looking a bit pale lately."

"Ami!" They chorus. But, surprisingly, they don't argue any more. They take their ice cream, thank Jack (throwing in some light-hearted comments), then leave out the front door.

As soon as they're gone, she lets out a long breath, "You probably think I'm a total bitch to them."

He barely glances up, pretending not to consider it, "The three of you seem really close." Wrapping a napkin around the cone, he puts it in a little tray. "That'll be thirteen dollars."

He figures she must be grateful not to have to handle the cone when both her hands fumble with her grey purse. She pulls out her wallet and hands him the right amount before shoving the wallet back inside, "New purse. Still getting used to it, but at this rate my patience won't last."

"I see." He says simply, holding out the ice cream cone to her.

She takes it and, with a smile that makes his heart skip a beat, tells him, "You know, everything is better a la mode," she looks him up and down, "especially men."

He had it wrong. Not only is she a flirt just like the others; she is much, much worse. And actually effective. Did her hips sway the same way when she entered the shop? He couldn't remember. She pauses in the doorway to glance back at him. He hopes he wasn't staring too intently.

"Thanks for the treat." Amethyst winks, then retreats into the blinding sun.

For a few moments, Jack watches through the dark windows as she walks confidently to the right. When she licks her ice cream, he forces himself to look away. He knows he hasn't been affected like this by anyone in a very long time- something close to ever. It was what these girls did, though. They walk into the shop all excited, and expect him to not only serve them ice cream but his digits- or himself as well. This was the one time he wouldn't mind.

Sometimes he would see flirtatious women back the very next day. A week was usually the max if they were actually interested in him. After the third or fourth visit, they would stop coming all together. Once they, finally, realized that, no, he's just not interested. Some would even make snide comments, saying his one and only love was ice cream, or that he prefers the company of others less feminine.

A week after the first encounter, the dirty blonde walks in with a tall, dark, and handsome man at her side. She's cut her hair to a short pixie style that, Jack would only admit under torture, suits her far better than the long style she'd had. The light curls frame her face perfectly.

The two laugh together while looking over the choices. As the last customer leaves, Jack walks over to see what they're pointing at, "Do you need some time to decide?"

The man, though probably not much older than Jack, still intimidates him. Against his character though, he has a smile to rival the sun, "I think we're going to share a double scoop cup of chocolate cookie dough. Right, munchkin?"

Jack suddenly remembers her name was Pen. He hoped it was only a nickname. And he hoped it was the one used more often than 'munchkin'. While she is short, she isn't that short.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!"

He remembers, somehow, in the back of his mind, that girls cut their hair after a break up. She seems attached to this guy though, so it couldn't be a couple's break up. Pushing the question back, he simply gets their order ready. But as the man pays, and Pen sucks thoughtfully on the little spoon they apparently planned to share, the brown eyes that had haunted him for the last week enter his mind again.

"You were here last week, right?" He questions casually, "I remember you. And your friends."

She stiffens and stares at him for a moment, her eyes wide. Seemingly a subconscious movement, her hand moves to her hair. Then she's being pulled away by her somber boyfriend.

Jack sighs. Instead of being relieved that he doesn't have to worry about that previously flirty customer, he's crushed with the thought that he was right. The three who he thought had been friendly joking around had broken up. Was it long coming or did it simply happen? Did he want to know? Should he care? Technically, he's not involved. Technically, he shouldn't be thinking about any of them- or any of their issues. He. Is not. Involved.

Another two weeks pass by. Pen doesn't come back. He figured that would happen. He shouldn't have said anything, but he couldn't help himself. At the time, he'd been hopeless with Amethysts eyes in his thoughts. He had to ask because he knew that if something really had happened, that he wouldn't see her again. Because one of her last memories with her friends would be at that little ice cream shop. Who would want to go back to look at that?

Another week later, Jack has given up on her. Life moves on. With the constant flirting from his bolder customers, he was far too tired already. Adding in a crush of his own wouldn't do anything to help him sleep at night- or focus on his work in the morning. She wasn't coming back. He was sure of that.

That is, until she strolled into the shop with a tired gait, her shoulder length hair down, and a ruffled black dress. He suddenly wanted to thank his lazy as all hell friend who told him to lock up. It was nearing that time now at ten-to-five. One last customer, he told himself. She's worth it.

"What do you recommend?" She asks, pulling him from his thoughts.

He clears his throat then lists, "There's a special on anything chocolate." She frowns and he goes on, "Newest flavor is dramatic dragon fruit." She sighs. "Did you like the blueberry you had last time?"

She stands straighter, eyeing him carefully, "That was a month ago. You remembered?"

"Just now." He laughs, trying to cover for himself, "I was going through the popular flavors and while blueberry isn't at the top- Maybe you want to try some cotton candy instead?" He glances around at the shop, trying to think of anything else to say.

"Is mango any good?"

"Mango fandango? I've heard mixed reviews."

She smiles at him, "Yeah, I'll try that. In a waffle cone." Amethyst leans her hip against the counter as he works, checking her phone once and frowning at it. "Do you have any idea what an eight year old would want for a birthday?"

Jack, who had been trying to think of some way to start a conversation, nearly sighs in relief that she managed to start one. Seeing as he worked in an ice-cream shop that is flooded with children on their birthdays, he knows exactly what one would want at that age. Still, he has to keep the conversation up somehow. "Boy? Girl?"

"Girl."

"And is she turning eight?"

"Umm..." She checks her phone again, "Yes."

"Seeing as Barbie's are old school," he puts the cone in a little tray on one side of the coolers, "maybe you should go for WYNX Club. Everyone loves fairies."

"But I love Barbie," she pouts. Gesturing at the ice cream she asks, "How much is this?"

"Tell you what, it's on the house. If," he smirks, "You promise to come again."

"What, like, in a month?" She jokes.  
"In the next week."

"Woah, Mr. ice-cream. You've gained some confidence, haven't you? How about, instead of that, I just agree to go on a date with you?"

His smile brightens, "Really? Then you can have a free topping, too!"

Amethyst laughs, "Are you kidding? From what I hear, you must get asked out twelve times each day! You can't possibly be that desperate for a date."

"I'm not. I never have been. I just want a date with you."

"Why me?"

"Because this entire month I haven't been able to get you off my mind. I don't know for sure what it is about you, I just want whatever it is."

They watch each other for a few minutes, then she picks up her cone and licks a trail of melting ice cream from it. "So, Mr. ice-cream, when and where?"

"I'm supposed to be closing up now. And since we're together... If you're not busy, I mean."

"Well, I might feel bad if I have ice cream and you don't."

Grinning, Jack immediately sets about scooping up a cup of mango ice cream, much to the amusement of the brown-eyed girl watching him. As he passes the toppings he raises an eyebrow at her. She shakes her head so he just loads his cup with gummy bears. "There. Better?"

"Much. Should I meet you outside so you can close up?"

"Too good to walk out with me?"

"Doubtful. Just thought I'd ask."

Out in the sun, they walk around the lakefront. Jack learns that she's a waitress at a restaurant only a block away from the shop he works at. He's never heard of it, so he can only trust when she assures him it's a real place. He also learns that the eight year old is her little half-sister. She's also hoping to open a family restaurant one day. Or a diner, she added with a small laugh. Jack doesn't say much about himself other than mentioning his family and that the ice cream shop is owned by his friend who had originally only planned to hire him for the duration of spring break. With so many happy customers, the job had been offered on more permanent grounds.

"I'm still not sure how long I'll be staying. I love the job, especially when I get to watch kids' faces light up."

"Work at my restaurant!" She grins, hooking her arm through his as they walk. He looks sideways at her for a moment then to his right, at the lake. She notices his blush, "It's not a marriage proposal, Jack. I'm just saying, if you feel like a change- And it will probably take a few years, anyway! It's a far off dream, and for all either of us know, we might not even be in touch at that point."

"I hope we are. Maybe we'll still be dating?" He suggests, hopefully. "Unless you find someone better-"

"Can I be honest?"

"I'd hoped you were being honest this whole time but, sure, you can start to be honest now."

Her hip bumps against him playfully and they walk a few more steps before she manages to squeeze out the words, "I remembered you, too. I wasn't sure what sort of impression I made last time we met, if you could call that meeting, and I couldn't stop replaying it over and over in my head. Like, an a la mode joke? How lame could I be? It made you remember me so that makes me happy, but-"

"Can you take a breath?" Jack laughs, "You're making me nervous."

"Oh. Sorry." A bit slower she continues, "I hoped I hadn't made a bad impression, and whenever I had a moment to myself I just couldn't stop thinking about it. About you. I'm not the type to say love at first sight is a thing, but I'm definitely interested to find out how long a sudden connection like that will last."

"Sudden connection, huh?"

"I thought instant would have sounded too corny."

"This from the girl who-"

"A la mode. I know. Please never bring that up again."

"It'll be a cute story to tell whoever it is we introduce each other to."

"Phew. For a second there I thought you might say our kids. I hope you realize that if we did have kids; they would be born with grey hair. Their eyes would be pretty, though. Brown and blue. It's a great combo."

"What would we name them?" Amethyst laughs and he blushes but asks stubbornly, "What? I thought we were talking about this!"

She points to a bench, "I've been in these heels all day, can we please sit down?"

"Of course." He leads her over to the bench and after they sit lets her lean on his shoulder to take her heels off. They join her purse on the ground in front of them then her hand leaves his arm. He tries not to be too disappointed. "Tough day?"

"Oh, so very difficult. Walking back and forth between tables and the kitchen is just such hard work."

"You are skilled in the art of sarcasm."

"And, you, in the art of jokes."

"Hey, that was a genuine compliment!" Jack defends himself. She casts a look at him and he admits, "Alright, it was a bit on the exaggerated side."

For a minute they look out over the water. Then her hand lightly rests on his, "To answer your question, if we had a boy he'd be named Jack Jr. If we had a girl-"

"Amethyst Jr?"

"Iris. After my grandmother. I was really close to her."

"Did she... Umm... You know..."

"Retire to France and leave her favorite grandchild to rot? Yup!" Amethyst smirks and bumps her shoulder against Jack's. He's starting to think she just likes making contact with him. He thinks that because while he's been trying to keep to himself all he's wanted to do is hold her hand. He supposes he's just old-fashioned.

"So why Jack Jr?"

"I like your name and, honestly, there aren't enough Jack Frosts in the world."

"I don't recall telling you my last name, Ami."

"I don't recall giving you permission to call me Ami." She counters, then laughs, "I'm kidding, I prefer the nickname. And, okay, you didn't tell me. I heard it from one of your number one fans. I guess that little bit of info just planted itself in my memory."

"When Jack Jr. and Iris are older, I'm going to tell them our a la mode story-"

"Please don't."

"-and they're going to go out and use lines just as corny as that one. They'll tell our story to their kids, and their own story as well, and it will form a tradition in the Frost family-"

"Excuse you, but maybe it's already a tradition in mine?"

"Is it?"

"No, I'm just that corny on my own. There's no family gene that does it."

"I should probably mention that my white hair isn't genetic and we probably wouldn't have grey haired kids. Dark brown, maybe. Oh, and the blue eyes might not be part of the deal, either. Sorry to disappoint."

"Oh, that's terrible," she jokes, "I don't think I even want to have kids with you if they won't have your eyes. It's just not worth it."

"Ouch. That really hurts." For emphasis, he clutches at his heart. "What if I was actually looking forward to it?"

"Then you're a pervert."

"Fine, then let's talk about this restaurant of yours. Do you have a name? A theme?"

"I don't have a name yet. I want to wait to see it first. For the theme I want something that lets me use the color blue a lot. It's such a calming color-"

"It's my favorite. Maybe we really were made for each other-"

"Now who's the corny one?"

"We're going to make such a cute couple-"

"You are so full of yourself-"

Jack takes her hands in his, "Look, after so long of being flirted with, asked out, and nearly assaulted by every female who has walked into that ice cream shop, I've finally found one that actually interests me. More than that, I think. I can't give that up when I know that without you I'll never find something like that again. I'll never find another you. Don't you think I at least deserve a chance?"

"I'm not all that lucky in love either, Jack. I'm giving you a chance, aren't I? I just... I have abandonment issues. I'm scared of getting too close to people. It's easier to keep em just outside that wall I've built."

"I understand-"

"Do you?" She squeezes his hands, "Cause I don't really trust people-"

"I'm someone you can trust. If not now; then you will. If you give me the chance."

"A chance, huh?" Amethyst thinks it over, "I guess I can give you one chance."

"That's all I'll need. I promise not to let you down."

"I've heard that before-"

"It's the only time you'll hear it from me because it's my lifetime guarantee- I did not mean to rhyme, I'm sorry."

Ami smiles, "It all started with ice cream."

"You're far too corny for your own good."

Her smile brightening, she squeezes his hands again, "We can call the restaurant creamed corn!"

"Ehh..." Jack makes a face, "Maybe not. How about a la mode? Or Winter Jewel?"

"That... sounds way too fancy for what I'm planning. But I do love it. Does this mean you'll be investing in my restaurant?"

"I'll invest so much you'll have to call it our restaurant. So. We have a family business, kids, a tradition. What are we missing?"

"I think we still need to plan our wedding. Oh, and have a few dozen dates first. By the way, our first kiss has to be on this very bench. Otherwise we're just missing an opportunity for another story to tell Jack Jr. and Iris."

"And on which date will that be?"

"Third at the earliest. But I'd rather just see what happens."

"Me too." The two laugh together, and they smile warmly for a long time after that first date, the second, and even the twentieth.


End file.
